When it comes to items necessary for a prepper to include in his or her planning, lip balm isn’t typically one that comes to mind. Chapped lips are bad, but when you’re talking about surviving a major disaster, it’s an ailment most people could deal with.

While yes, chapped lips are far from a prepper’s first priority, these little sticks of balm are worth far more than their ability to heal lips. That tube of lip balm can do everything from protecting your knife from rusting to helping you start a fire. Let’s look at some of the ways lip balm can help you in ... Continue Reading →

One of the easiest and most personal forms of prepping is your everyday carry, or EDC. Your EDC says a lot about you as a person and as a prepper, which is why there’s never a single answer for how to build one properly.

Sure, there are tips and tricks for building out your EDC, but at the end of the day it’s all about you and what you might need on a moment’s notice. Trying to build your EDC based on specific advice from someone else can be maddening to say the least, and for anyone who’s tried, you probably know the end result is a mishmash of tools and items that you’re ... Continue Reading →

Putting together a survival kit is not all that difficult. There are some items that just make sense to include in your kit. Things like extra food and water, first aid items, a multi-tool, a fire starter and cooking devices are essential.

There are other items to consider putting in your survival kit that you might not immediately think of. However, these things could still help you out in a pinch.

1. Zip ties – Zip ties are neat little tools that can be used in a large variety of... Continue Reading →

Did you know the majority of people stranded somewhere in the woods/jungle/desert/etc. are rescued within 72 hours? This means staying where you are is a great, great thing if you find yourself alone in the wild. Review what you need to do while awaiting rescue to help yourself as well as those looking for you.

Don’t Panic

To quote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, don’t panic. Panicking will not help you in any way; it ... Continue Reading →

Planning a long trek into the great, wide open? A wilderness trip involves a heck of a lot of planning so you don’t, um, die. Check out the following tips to ensure your adventure is one you’ll be talking about for years and years.

The hatchet was immortalized in the novel Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Remember reading it in your middle school English class? It’s the tale of a city boy whose plane crashes in the vast Canadian wilderness. He survives, though the pilot isn’t so lucky; he learns how to stay alive in the wild for 54 days with nothing but — you guessed it — a hatchet.

The chances are pretty high that if you’re reading this you don’t live on a pristine prepper compound with a year or more of food and supplies saved up. If you are, then kudos to you — you’re living the prepper dream. The rest of us, however, have to find a way to fit prepping into our daily lives and, most likely, smaller spaces.

This means the best ways for urban preppers to always be prepared is to stick with smaller, more manageable prepping techniques. By working with what you have at hand, you can be a more effective prepper and overall be ready for a variety of... Continue Reading →

Preppers are huge DIY fans. Most of us are prepping for disaster on a shoestring budget and diligently adding to our survival stockpiles in an organized and money-conscious manner. Some self-reliance and self-defense items simply have to b... Continue Reading →

When it comes to disasters, nobody truly wants to leave their home and all of their belongings, but there are times that the decision is made for you and the only safe option is to literally head for the hills.

The act of heading out from your current home to find safer conditions is known as bugging out. While bugging out means grabbing your supplies and getting out of Dodge while the getting is good, it does not mean that you should just all of a sudden th... Continue Reading →

A big part of prepping is not only having the right equipment to survive, but also knowing the proper skills as well. One skill that’s critical to survival in the outdoors is building a proper fire. We’re not talking an emergency fire that you have to start with what’s on hand, but a good, solid campfire that can be set up properly to give you maximum efficiency.

The trick to building an impressive fire is making sure the flames have ready access to oxygen. Building your fire in a way that easily feeds air to it will ensure success. Ready to learn how to build the per... Continue Reading →

Five-gallon buckets are part of every prepper’s stockpiles in one manner or another. From food grade buckets to secondhand bargain buckets used to store non-edible preps, the handy containers are stacked tall in the basements and garages of prepping families across the country.

You can make the most of both your prepping storage space and growing area by using five-gallon buckets to create homemade emergency kits, container gardens, rotating compost bins, and a host of other t... Continue Reading →

As we move into the holiday season, it’s more and more common to find yourself far away from home. Whether you’re flying to meet up with your family or heading out for the day to celebrate with some friends, travel is almost always involved.

As we travel more, the danger of a disaster or emergency situation happening when you’re away from home becomes all too real. Sure, you have your bug-out bag and possibly even a full-home prep waiting at your house, but that doesn’t do you any good if you’re not there to use it. What you need is a way to get home and deal with t... Continue Reading →

When talking about survival, there’s a lot out there that can kill you. So much so that it can seem like the world is out to get you at times, which in a way it kind of is. This is why prepping is so vital to successful survival. There are thousands of mistakes you could possibly make when prepping for survival, and many of those are covered right here on this site. Whether it’s how to store your food, where to find water, or how to prep the ultimate bug-out bag, prepping is all about, well, being prepared.

Alcohol has earned its place near the top of any survival preparedness list. Both “gotta be 21 to buy” alcohol and rubbing alcohol have a multitude of uses that could help you survive an apocalypse. Nearly any version of b... Continue Reading →

So what’ll help you more in an emergency: skills or stuff? If you need to start a fire, what’s better to have with you, the tools to easily start a fire or the knowledge of 20 different ways to get it lit? Should you know how to hunt, fish, forage, and basically make food, or is it better to spend your time stockpiling what you need for an emergency?

It’s this balance that you have to work with in order to build a successful survival plan, and while there are emphatic voices on both sides of this discussion, what you really need to do is take a good look at both sides ... Continue Reading →

Making sure that your bugout bag and EDC (every day carry) kit has everything you need to survive if disaster strikes is a daunting task, to say the least. Re-evaluating the items in out BOB bags, INCH bags, or get home bags on a regular basis — and making sure we know how to fully use all the items contained inside — is an ext... Continue Reading →

Mason jars are a staple item for nearly all preppers and homesteading families. The sturdy jars are first and foremost used to pressure can the annual harvest, but they possess a plethora of other potential uses as well.

Oil lamps are one of those items that often gets passed down from ge... Continue Reading →

Summer is not only a time for BBQs, baseball games, and trips to the beach. The most glorious months of the year are also a perfect time to practice your preps. Getting the entire family involved in SHTF drills and enhancing your physical readiness can be both a fun and potentially life-saving endeavor.

Bug Out Bags are far more common than you may think. If you’ve ever had a pregnancy in your house, you know that when it starts getting close to the baby being born momma usually keeps an overnight bag next to the front door so it’s easy to grab and run.

This is, technically, a bug out bag. Taking this idea and making it more about survival than comfort after a pregnancy, bug out bags are crucial when talking about emergencies, both big and small. The idea that you can grab one bag and survive for 48 hours or more is not only important, it’s downright necessary.

Few people know more about being tough and surviving like the United States Marines. Half of their toughness comes from being a special breed of soldier, and the rest comes from their training. U.S. military training is easily the best in the world, which is why our soldiers are prepared for just about anything the world can throw at them.

We can all learn a lot from the Marines, especially when it comes to survival. While we would rather not go through their summer survival training course, we did read their guide to learn some of their tips and tricks, five of which we prov... Continue Reading →

When you hear the word “redundant,” you rarely think of anything good. Normally, this word is saved for things that waste your time and cause you to do the same thing twice. While this is true in some cases, redundancy in the world of survival isn’t only recommended, it’s required.

Take for example Teddy Roosevelt. Our future 26th president needed his glasses to see clearly, especially when in battle. Instead of trusting fate that his glasses would remain on his face and in tact, he often rode into battle with a dozen or more pairs of his glasses on... Continue Reading →

OK, Mr. Prepper. You have your storage carefully laid in down in the basement and well crafted bugout bags for each family member. Food, water, clothing, fire starter, toiletries, and to make sure you sleep well, one of those fancy shiny space blankets. Well, done, my intrepid prepper. But one item that you may have missed could put your family at risk of discomfort, or in some cases, threaten their survival.

Having a proper every day carry (EDC) setup is one of the most important things you can do to be prepared, well, every day. While you can get separated from your bug out bag and might not be able to get home quickly, your every day carry is always on you to help you survive and get things done.

When the weather starts getting colder your ability to up the ante on your Every Day Carry (EDC) increases. When you have a jacket and bulkier clothing on you can hide everything from a bigger gun to a better knife all on your person. While we all have our own personal EDC setup, there are some adjustments that need made for when the weather turns, and by simply tweaking what you already use, you can be more prepared and ready for anything the winter months can throw at you.

Every year about this time, I take an hour or two on a Saturday, before the college football games start, mosey out my cars, and take a few minutes to perform a few adjustments on the emergency kits in the trunk. It’s not a bad time of year to do it, and while your “tweaks” might be different than mine, here is what I do to our kits:

-Rotate the snacks. After all, they have been baking in an often hot trunk for a few months now. I find that if I try to keep t... Continue Reading →

Have you even dreamed of moving to a remote location and getting set-up to live a life totally off the grid? I’m sure that some people have had that notion, given all of the unsettling developments worldwide and domestically, especially within our own cities. It’s a fact that cities have become more and more dangerous over the past decade.
That said, getting out of the city may make more sense now than ever before:

Believe it or not, people were actually able to predict the weather before we had satellites to look down on moving weather patterns, and iPhones to get severe weather alerts. There was a time where farmers were the best meteorologists and grandpa was who you asked about the weather later today, not the guy on TV.

These people of a time forgotten didn’t have super powers, and they didn’t go to school to predict the weather. Instead, they paid attention to the world around them and understood that most things in the world are connected, and ... Continue Reading →

It would stand to reason that anything that helps get people excited about prepping and survival is a good thing, but awareness isn’t always the best thing. For example, take the popular survival shows on cable television today. Hosts like Bear Grylls will show you how to hunt an elk, survive falling into glacial ice water, and even drink dirty water via an enema, but how much of this is really important?

Surviving the wild is not what like TV shows Survivor and Lost may seem to look like: no reward challenges, no immunity, and most of the time there’s no conspiracy involved. In real life, many bad things can happen in the wilderness as it’s a hostile environment and things can easily go out of control. What was supposed to be a breezy weekend camp can turn into a horrible one as a violent storm could chase you into a nearby cave and get you stuck for the next 48 hours. If t... Continue Reading →

The ability to make your own soap is another strength to add to your growing list of survival skills. As fun as soap projects can be, it's important to remember that soapmaking isn't for children! It can actually be quite dangerous, as you're working with lye a lot of the time. If your chosen recipe calls for lye, wear... Continue Reading →

If you’re busy ‘living’ your life, it’s impossible to read the thousands of articles about disaster preparedness. And the truth be known, I think we all get weary of reading the constant debates over how many cans or bags of beans we need to stockpile, or which survival knife is best, or which backpack is best, and so forth. The key is simple; have the basics; somethingContinue Reading →

The recent unrest in the town of Ferguson, Missouri seems more like a wartime environment than simple protests, and much of this has to do with what is turning out to be a far more militarized police force than anyone would have suspected existing in and around a small Missouri town of around 21,000 people.

While the cause of the shooting and identity of the officer involved are still not known, but what you can see from the events in Ferguson is that the police in this town are not about protecting and serving the people, but instead about protecti... Continue Reading →

Summer is the time for family getaways and vacations, but just because you’re taking time off from work doesn’t mean you should be taking time off from prepping. Instead of thinking about prepping as an act you do when you buy supplies or put in a new garden, it needs to be a lifestyle. Disaster is just as likely to strike when you’re 500 miles away from home at the beach as it is when you’re sitting on your front porch at home.

This is why you need to be prepared no matter where you are, and doubly so if you’re far away from your supplies... Continue Reading →

Everyone needs to learn how to start a fire and pack lightweight materials in their bugout bag or get home bag to help accomplish the task. A fire will keep frostbite from occurring, allow you to cook what you trapped or shot while hiking home through the woods after disaster, and can be used to purify water for drinkin... Continue Reading →

Hunker down folks, Armageddon is coming! Howling hurricanes, terrible tornados, devastating earthquakes, not to mention the collapse of civilization if the Democrats (or Republicans, depending on your political bent) win the next election. Meanwhile, you are just trying to get through to your next paycheck, worrying about how fast the mileage is stacking up on the minivan, and trying to figure out where your adorable toddler le... Continue Reading →

Living off the grid or making the decision to live more self-reliant existence in a rural area takes planning, lots and lots of planning. As with all things worth doing, embarking on a self-reliant lifestyle should start with a solid foundation, and some homework. The best self-reliance tips ... Continue Reading →

Getting yourself and even your spouse/significant other into prepping is overall fairly easy. You cans it down, weigh out the facts, and make some decisions on what you need to do to protect yourself and others from disaster.

Kids on the other hand, do handle facts and reasoning as well as an adult does, which means you can’t just give them facts and expect them to make the right decision. Worst of all, it’s much easier to scare a child with facts about disaster and the end of the world, something you really don’t want to do.

Ah, MacGyver. The late-'80s/early '90s television series starring Richard Dean Anderson is certainly a classic, and even spawned a popular Saturday Night Live sketch and subsequent film, MacGruber. The series followed secret agent Angus MacGyver, a bomb team technician during the Vietnam War who worked for fictional... Continue Reading →

Most of us are familiar with the standard bug out bag, but this catchall for 72 hours worth of survival should be considered more of a bigger picture kind of tool while a survival kit is the barebones items you need to survive.

The exact contents of a good survival kit will vary with the environment you plan on using it in, but there are some basics that every good survival kit should have.

Survival Kit Basics

A good survival kit should be three things. First, it should be as portable as possible. T... Continue Reading →

Few would argue that a Bug Out Bag (BOB) is a must for every prepper. Having a bag that you can pick up and live off of for three days makes you more prepared than the majority of the world, but what happens when you’re at work and disaster strikes? You don’t want to bug out necessarily; you want to get home. Even if you keep your BOB in your car or truck, it’s used for a completely different situation and needs, and your car isn’t near you at work. For most people, getting home is a ... Continue Reading →

OK, that was crazy. What you prepared for and worried about all these months actually did happen. You had to grab your family, snag your “bugout bag”, and make a run for it. A close call, but everyone is safe from the fire/flood/earthquake/hurricane/riot/tornado/whatever.

Now your evacuated, you have found a sheltered spot where your family can take a deep breath and wait for the first responders and c... Continue Reading →

When the chips are down and things get crazy, a warm, crackling fire can make the difference between being cold and miserable and being safe, warm, and comfortable. A fire is more than warmth, when you gather around its pulsating orange tendrils; it offers an almost primordial sense of security.

Having said that, in any given situation, the first question that needs asking is if you should light a fire at all. If you are warm and dry, and just need to boil... Continue Reading →

In any survival or emergency scenario, the ability to create fire is a must-have. Fire is useful for all sorts of things in the outdoors including keeping yourself warm, cooking food, making signals so that rescuers can find you, having a source of light at night, and even just providing a psychological boost to your morale. To that end, having tools to start a fire is essential for anyone who recreates in... Continue Reading →

NEW YORK (AP) — Ever feel like you're on a big hamster wheel and you can't get off?

Ward Shelley and Alex Schweder know that feeling all too well. The two performance artists are spending 10 days living, eating and sleeping on a giant hamster wheel to make a larger point: We all have to work together to get through the daily grind.

"I wasn't prepared for this ... perhaps I should have been," Shelley said from ... Continue Reading →

Bug Out Bags and home preps are great, but there will always be a time in which you’re not near your BOB, vehicle, or house. In these situations all you have to survive is what is in your pockets or on your person, which is why having a solid Everyday Carry, or EDC is so important.

The things you carry with you can do far more than just make opening boxes or telling the time easier, they could very well save your life. Because this is such an important idea, you shouldn’t ... Continue Reading →

Most of you, if you have been around outdoors activities for any length of time, especially if you like to propel yourself in the outdoors with your feet, have heard about the “10 Essentials”, that short list of things you should never be about when you are away from civilization. Since emergency preparation is also about what you need when the comforts that we are used to go away, reviewing both the list of Essentials and the uses of those items can be of great use to both outdoor ... Continue Reading →

A good Bug Out Bag (BOB) is one of the most important pieces to any prep. Things can go bad in a moment, which is why having a pre-packed bag with everything you need for 72 hours ready to go is more than smart, it’s just common sense.

Packing everything you need for 72 hours into a single bag isn’t easy, but there are a few key areas you need to focus on to get the most bang for your buck. You could pack more, or even plan for more than 3 days, but remember this is all supposed to fit into a bag you’re going to carry on your back while on the move, so the less it has in it, th... Continue Reading →

Prepping can be a pretty expensive venture, which is why any time you can prepare on the cheap without sacrificing quality; it’s a good thing. Best of all, most cheap preps are usually pretty small, so they fit perfectly into a bug out bag or other larger kits.

We here at SurvivalBased.com are always on the lookout for items that can make your life easier in an emergency situation. We have found just such an item, and I took it up a local canyon for a “test drive” this past weekend.

The Sierra Zzip stove is not a new product. It has been around, essentially unchanged, for a couple of decades. It has a devoted, if small, following a... Continue Reading →

Instafire. In a survival situation, the ability to start a fire could mean the difference between life and death. Fire can provide light, heat, and fuel for cooking food. Being able to start a fire quickly under difficult conditions could dramatically improve your odds of survival when the SHTF.

One of the best products available to help start a fire is Instafire. Instafire is a scientific blend of recy... Continue Reading →

The preparedness and survival culture, which focuses on adopting personal policies and lifestyles geared towards being able to live through disasters and cataclysmic events, has captured the imagination of a lot of people. With more media discussions regarding the continued slump in the global economy, political instability in many parts of the world, and the ever-present danger of natural disasters, being part of the preparedness trend is n... Continue Reading →

Building an emergency lean-to is one of the first things you should do when stranded in the wilderness. A lean-to provides protection from the elements as well as from animals, particularly if you are able to build a fire. While you can make adjustments to your lean-to ... Continue Reading →

Budget Bug Out Bag. One of the first things that every new survivalist does is put together their Bug Out or Get Home Bag. This bag is a collection of tools, materials, and food that is designed to get your through the first 72 hours of whatever disaster or situation you might find yourself in.

There are many different methods and budgets that apply when deciding what should go ... Continue Reading →

Tin Foil Recipes. The summer is coming soon and you need to think about what to feed your family when you go camping. Tin foil dinners are easy to make and have ready to go for your trip. Then, when you arrive at the camping site, you can just place them in the coals of the campfire and let them heat up. It works and is an easy way to make gourmet food for the road. Here are 5 recipes for those meals this ye... Continue Reading →

Instafire is the perfect fire starter. InstaFire is composed of recycled wood, inert minerals and shielded with a patented blend of paraffin which makes InstaFire inherently safe. It burns easily in wind and rain. Unlike similar products, Instafire does not contain any harmful chemicals or vapors so it burns green. It... Continue Reading →

Survival Gear Must Haves. If you are looking for gear to survive, there are definitely items that should be on your must have survival gear checklist. These include things you use to pack, along with a bag that carries all your critical supplies. Many situations in the space of a relatively short ... Continue Reading →

72 hour survival kits are recommended by emergency management agencies so people can be prepared in case of emergency. This kit, also called a bug out bag, is an easy way to prepare ahead of time for disaster. If you need to evacuate your home or workplace, your kit would contain the basics you need to survive for 72 hours. On the occasion you decide to stay in your home during an emergency (shelter in place), your survival kit contents could be stor... Continue Reading →

Firestarters

Fire starting has always been one of those subjects of common interest at home or wilderness survival. Lets start with listing a few commonly used fire starting tools firesteel, charcoal, knife, tinder, cloth, Instafire, and many other great options.

Charcoal

Lighting your fire with charcoal is a common option. However it is commonly used for bbq grills and no you don't have to use lighte... Continue Reading →

The 2nd half of "The Walking Dead" returns Sunday February 10th. As one of the more popular TV shows we thought we would do an article on some of the lessons we can learn from the show.

While getting prepared for any sort of emergency we tend to think of immediate needs like do I have enough food or water. But everyone has his or her own unique circumstances. That means you need to have your own custom... Continue Reading →

When disaster hits and the power goes out, it’s imperative to have the skills and the know-how to survive. National Preparedness Month isn’t just about accumulating “stuff”; it’s also about accumulating knowledge.

One of the most essential skills in any wilderness survival course is building and sustaining a fire. Today, there are a wide variety of fire-starting options, but it is important to know how to get your fire started “the old fashioned way”.

Old fashioned can be a subjective term—today’s generation might think it means using a generic plastic lighte... Continue Reading →

Emergencies can happen at any time and almost anywhere. Natural disasters, financial collapse or sudden accidents can turn life on its head in a matter of seconds. The only way to keep your family safe and secure in the face of crisis is preparation.

September is National Preparedness Month, so there’s no better time than NOW to get your emergency plan up to date. SurvivalBased.com is your headquarters for all things emergency prep—helping you be more than prepared for anything.

When preparing a 72-hour survival kit, there are many things to consider. Here are some thought starters:

Food and Water: Water is almost always your number-one priority in a 72-hour kit. If it’s not, and you don’t have any or enough, it soon will be. Almost every guide says you need a gallon per day for drinking and hygiene, but that’s 24 pounds of water per person for a three-day supply! If you are likely to not have access to water, especially in hot climates, pay the price and lug the water. If there are water sources nearby, purification may be a better id... Continue Reading →

In our final installment of this four-part series on how to prepare your 72-hour survival kit, we have just a few final essentials we need to make sure get stashed away for an emergency. You will note we said the last of four; we strongly encourage you to review parts one, two and three of this series. They cover everything from pre-planning, food and water, to medical supplies. It is information you cannot afford to go without.

There are just a few more things to consider when customizing a complete 72-hour kit. They are essentials, but are too customized to really lump into... Continue Reading →